Using the Licorice Gum
by amandajbruce
Summary: In which Lilly waits at Rico's while Hannah Montana tries to convince Oliver he isn't in love with her. Set during the episode "Miley, Get Your Gum."


Disclaimer: Just a reminder that I do not own any of the things owned by Disney.

A/N: I thought it would be interesting, since as an audience we only see the ending of "Miley, Get Your Gum" for Miley and Oliver, if we got to see just what was going on with Lilly while Hannah Montana was chewing gum to gross out her biggest fan.

Using the Licorice Gum

"Do you honestly think this is goin' to work?" Miley Stewart asked her best friend. She and Lilly Truscott were raiding the Truscott family kitchen looking for a very specific item: gum.

"Miley, trust me. Oliver hates gum. He would never want to date a gum chewer. When you turn up as Hannah, chomping away, he's going to freak!" There was a sparkle in Lilly's blue eyes that Miley had never seen before.

"Why are you so excited?"

"I have very few talents. Annoying Oliver has always been one of them, and besides, grossing out Oliver is fun!"

Miley shook her head and made sure she had all of her supplies ready for Hannah Montana's afternoon at the beach.

"Lilly, you gave me four packs of gum already. I don't think I'm going to need more." Miley said this only because Lilly was busy throwing everything from one of the kitchen drawers on to the counter, and she was rapidly running out of counter space.

"Aha! Here it is." Lilly turned and handed her friend one of two identical packs of gum.

"More?" Miley hardly sounded excited.

"This is special gum. It's licorice gum. It turns black when you chew it. It's like Oliver kryptonite." Lilly explained it all quickly, then added, "use it as a last resort though. I don't want you giving Oliver a heart attack."

"Last resort, got it." The brunette slip the pack into her pocket and watched as Lilly put the second one into her own pocket. "What are you going to do with that?"

"I've been saving it, you know, just in case I need it for revenge. I don't want to forget where I put it again."

"You enjoy revenge way too much."

"I know." Lilly smiled and swiped everything from the counter into the drawer she just worked so hard to empty.

"Okay, got my wig, got the gum, chair, let's go." Lilly helped Miley cart everything down to the beach.

"Oh, I almost forgot. We want to gross him out, but we don't want to crush him." Lilly told Miley.

"Who is this we? I'm doin' the work!" Miley exclaimed.

Lilly ignored her and continued, "When you can tell he's turned off, you need to bring up someone else. I read that Mandy Moore just dyed her hair again." The two of them reached the sand, and began making their way out of Lilly's neighborhood toward the more public area of the beach.

"Did she go blond again?" Miley questioned. "Cause I've noticed Oliver has a definite type."

"Of course she went blond. If she decided to be a red head, I would have suggested Jessica Simpson or something," Lilly stated matter-of-factly.

"You know, you're blond," Miley pointed out.

"Miley, you already tried that. Remember the whole "sensing a couple" thing? Cause he's not and I'm not. It's just weird." Lilly glanced at her friend from the corner of her eye and quickened her pace. There was no reason for Miley to know that Lilly was not as utterly repulsed by the idea as would have been expected.

"Okay! It just would have been easier." Miley grumbled to her. "We need to find a pretty empty spot. I don't want to have to sign a bunch of stuff while I'm waiting, or have a news crew show up."

"Follow me. I know the perfect spot. I go there to do homework sometimes." Lilly led Miley across one of the wooden walkways to a small area surrounded by rocks and sea grass. There was only one other person on this area of the beach, and he was facing the other way, paying them no attention.

Lilly began to help Miley set herself up, then pulled out her phone to check the time. "Oh man, I've got to go keep an eye out for Oliver! He should be home from the orthodontist any minute!"

"Text me when he's on his way!" Miley called after the girl who was already sprinting back the other direction.

***

Lilly was on the edge of the public access area of the beach, the farthest she could be from Oliver's house and still see when his mom pulled in to the driveway. She had been stationed in this particular spot for ten minutes, and was starting to worry that she remembered the wrong time. She paced back and forth for a few minutes, then noticed Becca Weller watching her.

"What? Can't a girl pace in peace?

"Are you okay, Lilly?" Becca asked with genuine concern.

"Fine. Just thinking. What are you up to?" Lilly found herself happy for the distraction, and she always thought Becca was nice. They were just never particularly close.

"I'm just heading down to the beach for some tan time. You want to come?" Becca jerked her thumb behind her and her eyes were hopeful.

"Maybe later," Lilly responded as she noticed Oliver's mom's car pull in to the Oken driveway. "I just remembered I told Miley I would meet her at Rico's. But hey, I saw some great tanning spots that-a-way." Lilly pointed her in the direction least likely to lead to an encounter with Hannah Montana. "Okay, see ya." She added and turned away from Becca.

Becca just gave her a confused look and headed off in the direction Lilly indicated.

Lilly waited until she was sure Becca was out of sight to pull her phone back out and begin walking back toward the more secluded area of the beach.

"Oliver! You'll never guess who I just saw on our favorite beach!" Lilly poured all of the fake enthusiasm she could muster into her phone.

"Lilly, last time you saw Johnny Depp, it turned out to be the pizza guy," Oliver told her warily.

"Would you forget about that already? It was an honest mistake."

"The guy was bald."

"Fine. I won't tell you that I just saw Hannah Montana and her boyfriend break up just a minute before I called you." Lilly giggled a little at the end of the sentence, but hoped Oliver would chalk it up to the excitement of seeing their favorite pop star.

"Where are you?" came his breathless reply.

""Just meet me at Rico's." Lilly heard the dial tone as soon as the words left her mouth. She smiled and shot Miley a text reading "on his way."

Oliver made it to her in record time, and she found herself wondering why he never made it to their surfing sessions that fast. Again, she brushed thoughts of "her and Oliver" aside and just walked him to the area of beach she showed Miley earlier that afternoon. She spent the walk over trying to make Oliver understand that there would be other girls if Hannah rejected him, but "Smokin Oken" refused to listen. Giving up, she went back to Rico's and ordered a bag of chips and a bottle of water from the guy working the counter. Thanking him, Lilly settled on to a stool to wait.

And wait.

And wait some more.

Seriously, how long would it take to make Oliver think Hannah was the most disgusting singer on the planet? Lilly glanced at her phone.

Oh. Only three minutes had gone by. Angrily, she opened her chips and shoved a few in her mouth.

There was nothing to worry about. Her plan would work. Oliver was probably just holding out a little longer than she originally thought. After all, his obsession with Hannah ran deep. Opening her water, Lilly wondered if Miley would have to break out the licorice gum. She took a sip and remembered the pack in her own pocket. After eating a few more chips, she retrieved the pack and placed it next to her water bottle. Maybe the licorice gum was a little too much.

Seven minutes.

One third of her chips were gone.

What if she was wrong? What if the plan was horrible? What if Miley had to tell Oliver the truth? Her left hand began to drum its fingers on the counter top without her notice. That could never happen. Miley was too worried about Oliver being in love with Hannah Montana to risk letting go of her secret. But what if she did? Would that make everything easier? She had wanted to tell Oliver the truth from the start, but his little crush put a damper on that. What if Miley and Oliver worked everything out and they did become a couple though? She shuddered. It was just too strange to think about.

Twelve minutes.

Half of her chips were gone.

She drank a little more water and tried to calm herself. Lilly's fingers now itched to pick up her phone and call Mley, but she did not want to risk interrupting them. When she thought that, she began to wonder what exactly she would be interrupting. She squashed that lone of thought and threw another chip into her mouth. Thoughts like that were ridiculous anyway. Miley was not Oliver's type.

Sixteen minutes.

The incessant tapping of her left hand's fingers was earning her quite a few glares, but she was beyond noticing. She continued to nervously eat her chips and sip her water, lost in her own thoughts.

Nineteen minutes.

The chips were gone and her phone stared at her.

Lilly could not take it anymore! She had to know. Just as she started to dial, she heard a familiar voice to her right.

"Seriously, Miley, do you have Mandy Moore's number?"

"If I had it, I wouldn't give it to you. You'd phone stalk her." Miley and Oliver walked up to Rico's and ordered a couple of hotdogs.

"Come on, I've spent almost two years thinking about someone I shouldn't have. You owe me." Oliver tried to lay the guilt on thick, but it would not work on his friend. It took Lilly a second to realize what Oliver said, but their conversation clicked.

"You told him?!" She exploded at Miley. "You said that wasn't an option!" She pointed accusingly at Miley with her water bottle.

"She knows?" Oliver asked sharply.

Miley led the two of them away from Rico's before they attracted too much attention.

"I had to tell him, Lilly. He was like a dog with a bone. The boy would not let go." She said to Lilly. "And besides," she added in a whisper, "you were the one who made me realize Hannah and Miley were the same, remember?"

"She knows?" Oliver repeated his earlier question.

"Of course I know! The gum chewing? My plan!" Lilly said proudly.

Oliver then added, "how long?"

"Just for the last few weeks, you know since you guys snuck into my dressing room." Miley attempted to placate Oliver, but she knew the back and forth between her two friends could get worse. Lilly, however, had recovered from the initial shock, especially once remembering Oliver had asked for another pop star's phone number.

"You know, I'm a wee bit disappointed in you Oken. We've known each other for over a decade, and you didn't even recognize me in the limo." Lilly sighed, but her tone was teasing, and Miley knew she was not upset.

"I was a little preoccupied with the other person, and oh my God, it was Thor that made out with my hand!" Oliver shuddered and Miley went to retrieve their hotdogs before somebody else decided to claim them.

As she reached the counter, Miley noticed Lilly's unopened pack of licorice gum left next to a napkin dispenser. Smiling, she picked it up and tossed it in the nearest trashcan. She hoped Lilly would never want to use it. When she returned to Lilly and Oliver, she could tell not much had changed.

"You've dog sat for us before! How could you not know it was Thor? You really are a doughnut." Lilly was again pointing with her water bottle, but this time no cap kept the water in tact, so Oliver took it from her before she could get any ideas.

"Come on, Lilly. Neither of you knew it was me either for two years," Miley put in, handing Oliver his hotdog.

"Mmm hmm. I think she's jealous," Oliver remarked to Miley.

"What?" the two girls said in unison.

"Yep. Jealous. Miley's alter ego is more eye catching than yours." He paused in his speech to take a sip from the water in his hand, forgetting it was Lilly's, then promptly spit it out on to the unsuspecting form of Becca Weller heading back in from her "tan time."

Becca only managed a small "ew" before rushing past them, as Oliver questioned Lilly, "what kind of chips did you eat?"

"Barbecue."

"They don't taste so good in the water," he told her while shoving the bottle in her direction.

"I guess that will teach you to steal a girl's drink," Miley said to him.

"And to call her jealous," Lilly added, snatching the bottle back.

Oliver just groaned and went to buy himself a new drink. He also made a mental note to apologize to Becca the next time he saw her, and to remember not to drink after Lilly unless she used a straw first.


End file.
